The Toasty Badger

Such a cute little diner! It's like you stepped right into the 70s with the lighting, the tile, and the barstools.It's a pretty small joint but the food is absolutely incredible! Definitely recommend visiting them for breakfast or brunch and trying out on of their cocktails!The staff were so friendly and helpful and made us feel really welcomed.In terms of parking, there's a small sized parking lot attached so you don't have to pay to park on the street, which is nice:

The service is exceptional love the people who work here. I've tried this three times. The coffee is weak the food is disgusting. Again the service is fantastic the people who work here are great. But the food oh my God NoAnd for breakfast place you think they'd make better coffee

Haiku ReviewGriddle cakes delight,hash browns stacked in perfect form,counter dining vibeGo here for.... The hash browns and omelettesElevated diner experience, with some sophisticated takes on traditional staples (see their homemade hash browns that come in a neat, well presented block, their griddle cakes made with vanilla bean, and their French omelette). The inside was tight, but the aesthetic was a clean, counter-diner style vibe. The outdoor seating is a nice addition for warmer days. And overall the service was pretty good considering how busy they were. If given the option, I'm still probably picking Phoebe's (right down the road), however this is a nice addition to the diner portfolio for Austin!

Pro Tips: Make a reservation ahead of time, especially if you're party is larger than 2. Expect a 20 min wait time if you're 2. Really enjoyed our experience! While pricier than your average "diner", the dishes and quality of ingredients are certainly met. We enjoyed both the American and French omelettes. Suggestion to the kitchen staff - consider using a little less butter/oil on the French omelette. While it is necessary to use quite a bit, the dish was swimming in way too much. The seating was fun! Overlooking South Congress, and bar-style. Loved the retro aesthetic, including all the smaller details (such as a school recipe book from the 80s in the bathroom). Their Flapjacks? Great! Better than Kerby! I suggest choosing your entrees and getting a side flapjack on the side.

Came here for brunch with a coworker and we both absolutely love this spot! I got the classic breakfast with ham and scrambled eggs and ended up upgrading my toast for a pancake, which was definitely the right move. The pancakes here are absolutely insane. They are massive and so buttery and fluffy and thick. My coworker got the breakfast sandwich and said it was super good and we also tried the French toast with the peach topping, which was very good. I would have to say that the French toast was probably my least favorite thing surprisingly. The service here was great, and the restaurant itself is super cute. Only complaint is that since the restaurant is small the seating was kind of cramped but not a big deal at all! Definitely will be bringing some friends here in the future.

Toasty Badger is a super cute vintage-inspired diner. Beautifully curated interior decor with an outdoor patio.The staff are just swell too! Every person we interacted with was just super nice.The food is upscale diner food that's priced fairly.The French omelette was one of the best I've ever had.

I'd been to Toasty Badger once before close to opening weekend and wasn't impressed, but I'm glad I came back - it was really good this time around! We were seated immediately on their outdoor patio, and even though it was a cool day, their heaters made it very pleasant. It's on the slightly less appealing part of Congress, but there wasn't so much car traffic whizzing by to degrade the experience.Service was very friendly, prompt enough, but not overbearing at all! I think they struck a good balance there.Ok, on to the food. Item 1: the basic brekky (scrambled eggs, sausage, a crispy hash brown, and subbed a pancake for the toast). The scrambled eggs were certainly full of butter, but they were very fluffy, rich and flavorful. The hash brown is a little rectangular prism of crispy, crunchy exterior encasing soft & fluffy potato shreds on the interior. Really satisfying I'm not a sausage fan, so I would have preferred bacon, but if your a sort of "basic Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage" fan, you'd like this. I think the star though ended up being the pancake. I was expecting a normal sized flapjack, but no, this behemoth covered the entire plate! And it wasn't thin, this puppy had some height to it. Fully cooked interior w/ a lot of air pockets with a lightly crispy exterior. Very well done!Item 2: the fried chicken sando. The only critique I have is that the lower bun was a bit soggy, but the chicken itself was very crispy on the exterior and juicy in the center (are you sensing a theme? Their fry game is on point). They doused the chicken in a chili oil that was too spicy (I actually added some crystal for an additional kick) and topped it with pickles and a light slaw. The slaw wasn't the goopy mayo kind, it was crisp and a little vinegary, a nice complement to the chicken itself. It was served with a side of salt and pepper fries. Not the best I've had - could have been crispier - but there weren't any left on the plate when we finished.All in all, Toasty Badger is a positive addition to the more southern part of South Congress and I'll likely be back!

Excellent greasy spoon, but updated to have some modern, healthy options! Their bottomless coffee excels in both quality and quantity (bottomless!!!). The pancakes are a heavy-hitter. I like the outdoor dining, but it can be a bit toasty in the sun and sometimes they have bees buzzing around.The service is well-staffed which makes wait-times shorter and the staff has lots of energy!

While the ambiance was great, the retro diner theme very well executed, and service was fine, 2/3 of the ordered food dishes went to waste because they really just didn't taste very good and were tough to keep eating and that is saying something because we pretty are anti-food waste. I'm not very picky and will usually eat anything I paid good money for. The griddle cake special was large and thick but DRY. The amount of syrup necessary to moisten the cake was not sustainable so the person that ordered this was only able to eat a small slice of it. I cut myself a big slice but like could not finish it because it really was quite dry. Next is the $23 salad with chicken. The taste of this salad was just mid..... it was missing something to tie the mildly bitter flavors in it together. Perhaps because the peaches were not sweet and the vinaigrette was not sweet either. The seasonal greens were 95% spinach and this may have been affecting the flavor. I thought some romaine would have helped lighten and sweeten the flavors going on. The chicken which was $8 of the $23 was also dry and not juicy. The blue plate special, which changes, but was a ham Benedict, was pretty tasty and I liked the coffee. Unfortunately, we ended up sharing the Benedict between all 3 of us mostly since none of the 3 of us liked the other two dishes. I saw some sandwiches for other tables come out that looked really good and our food also looked really good but then tasted not that good. It kind of seemed like an aesthetic matters more than taste place, which doesn't align with my interests when eating out.I'm willing to try this place again, but stick with the Benedicts or something like a burger/sandwiches.

The food is amazing, the service is top notch, and the atmosphere takes you back to being a child in the loving home of your favorite grandparents! I'll absolutely come back each time I come to Austin! I even got to meet one of the owners. He was kind, handsome, and a true gentle spirit!